The Gin Kings used its 12th pick rights in the draft to snag Manuel from the pool of rookies.

However, his stint with Ginebra wasn’t that productive for him as he got buried in the team’s guard rotation. He needs to compete with the playing minutes from the guys like LA Tenorio, Sol Mercado and Mark Caguioa.

Most of the time he got the chance to enter the basketball court was if the Gin Kings had one of its blowout game, either winning or losing.

Though still very young but Manuel chooses to pull the plug and put his attention to his other profession and that’s being a licensed Civil Engineer.

“I was shocked to find out,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone. “I’m saddened by it all. But it takes incredible character to walk away from the game to do something for your family.”

“He said he need to go, and he wasn’t secured with his future here. He felt he needed to go with his future right away and take advantage of his engineering degree.

“We certainly wish him well. He’s a good kid. I truly think he has a future in the PBA but we have different paths and we’re gonna respect his,” Cone said.